William Topley delivered a brilliant, career-spanning performance Saturday night, and still has one special concert left for tomorrow, July 4th.
By Bryan Ahearn
Nestled against the Rocky Mountain foothills, amidst the upbeat and vibrant bustle of a Saturday night in a college town, stands the Buffalo Rose.
It’s not quite downtown . Nor is it quite uptown. Yet, somehow, it was the perfect setting for British singer-songwriter William Topley to make his long-awaited return to the U.S.A.—a year-long in the making—to a packed house of concert loyalists at the Buffalo Rose in Golden, Colorado.
One the first of two shows, with the second being a special brunch performance tomorrow, July 4th at 10am—limited to only 150 seats, Topley packed the house Saturday night, then promptly brought it down, with a rousing, 2+ hour show, to the wild cheers of hundreds—fitting of a rowdy western, saloon of days past.
Almost apropos, Mr. Topley, indeed, opened on this first night with “I Don’t Want To Go Uptown,” drawing wild hollers, high fives and raised glasses from eagerly awaiting fans.
And it would be that way for much of the evening.
Followed by “Sycamore Street,” Topley leaned heavily into his pitch-perfect baritone, matched in fervor as the audience echoed back chorus-ends right on queue, only to be walloped headlong into the fray of “Highway Five,” an upbeat number that left some audience members visibly out of breath in keeping up with a brisk chorus.
Mr. Topley, however the lockdown may have tolled, showed no sign of wear, spanning a well-toned voice over stunning lyricism.
Oh Black River
Let me roll back to you
Under the water the light looks so fine
And out on the iron shore the lighthouse is flickering
A psalm for the serpents
Some rummy’s last call
“Black River”
Topley is no stranger to Colorado. In fact, he’s been touring the Columbine state since the 90s, with his band The Blessing, and afterwards as a solo artist.
With a silky-smooth bass-baritone voice that could rumble the deepest mountain, and soul-drenched melodies that could soak the deepest blue ocean, Topley’s music has a sound reminiscent of Dire Straits, The Rolling Stones and Billy Joel—coupled with stunningly poetic lyricism.
As the evening wore on, the dance floor stage-center wore out, with fans singing back with equal passion to every one of Topley’s selections.
You want to call my name in the black night
But it won’t be long before we fuss and fight
And I’ve been there once and I’ve been there twice
And I ain’t been no place three times in my sweet short life
“The Ring”
The evening moved on briskly, much faster than anyone really wanted it to end—and selections such as “Hurricane Room,” “Drink Called Love,” and “Ten Ten,” we’re handled expertly by Mr. Topley’s hand-selected supporting musicians: Michael Olsen (bass), Christian Teale (drums), Jeremy Lawton (keys/guitar) and Dave Beegle (guitar).
The musicians really sounded great. I don’t know if that means Zoom (actually) works for some tasks (sometimes), but you’d think they would have been playing together with Topley for an entire tour, and not just this one (and first) show, and were brilliant.
Especially with the crowd favorite “Delta Rain”:
Thunder’s up and the real live wires are talking,
Set me straight as the rain falls on New Orleans.
“Delta Rain”
Always a hot ticket in the Denver/Boulder area, Topley’s 2020 show was put on hold, of course due to the pandemic.
Fast-forward almost a year later, and it’s as if time, in this quaint little town fit snug in against the foothills, had found a way to stand still.
As if, in some way, the last year—and least for a couple of hours—had never happened.
This was Golden. This moment—this night—all of it, purely Golden. The way things were meant to be.
Amongst waist-high tables, conversations flowed, as they always have. Drinks with foaming brews were sipped, and plastic-cupped cocktails were gingerly carried up to the second levels by smiling patrons. And not a sip was spilled, mind you.
So, it seems, that on the eve of America’s Independence, it may have only been poetic justice that Mr. Topley—an Englishman—gave us Americans some of that freedom back.
And perhaps in being able to travel to Colorado, to an assuredly packed house, was able to enjoy some of his own.
Rating: 10/10
Setlist
- (I Don’t Wann Go) Uptown
- Sycamore Street
- That’s My Right
- Highway Five
- Holding On
- Black River
- The Ring
- Wide Saragossa Sea
- Don’t Do That No More
- Hurricane Room
- Drink Called Love
- Ten Ten
- Delta Rain
- Catherine
- You Don’t Love Me (Encore)
- Sweet William
- Nothing Else Matters
Relive the setlist…
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/william-topley-golden-co-07-03-21/pl.u-11zBJoms2GPgky
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QkyBOK8XWNdVZ5B18RYIv?si=pvXpLTwrQNCDZHXBC9ufIQ&dl_branch=1
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